Waterloo Courier (Newspaper) - May 25, 1979, Waterloo, Iowa o Courier 42 pages 3 sections May Waterloo Iowa Friday 25 cents Spenkelink dies in electric chair Convicted murderer put to death John Spenkelink STARKE Fla AP Convicted murderer John A Spenkelink was put to death in Florida's oak electric chair day clenching his left fist as volts of electricity shot through his body He was pronounced dead at Spenkelink 30 whose attorneys fought to save his life up to the last moment became the first man executed in the United States since Gary Mark Gilmore willingly faced a firing squad in Utah on January 17 1977 Before that no tions had been carried out in this country since 1967 Spenkelink was executed in a drab beige death room measuring about 12 by 20 feet at the Florida State Prison He received the first jolt of electricity at THAT FIRST surge singed the skin on John Spenkelink wrote his own epitaph Page 2 his right calf sending smoke into the death chamber He clenched his left fist then his hands began to curl and blacken Spenkelink received two more jolts of electricity A doctor was then called to check his heart at The doctor looked at prison superintendent David Brierton stepped back and waited two more minutes when he again checked heart with a stethoscope and again stepped back Finally at he made a third check lifted the death hood to look at eyes and checked his pulse Spenkelink was dead Carol Myers sister at the press briefing area crying on the shoulder of her husband Tim She held up what she said was her brother's last will which This is to authorize the release of my body and all personal belongings immediately if I am executed murdered by the state of Florida to Mrs Carol Dean Myers The condemned man had lost his last hope of reprieve four minutes before the scheduled 10 execution when the Supreme Court in Washington voted to deny a stay Lawyers for Spenkelink had presented a petition for a stay to the court clerk at 7 THE EXECUTION which was to have begun promptly at 10 was delayed until when the Venetian blinds separating official and media witnesses from the electric chair were opened showing Spenkelink already strapped in the huge oaken death chair He was wearing a white gown rolled up at the sleeves and blue pants A towel was placed under his chin A leather harness was placed around his head and over his chin and his arms chest legs and ankles were secured to the chair with wide leather straps Spenkelink was not allowed a tional last statement contrary to mises from prison officials who had said he would make a final speech The attorney for the executed killer said her client was robbed in the courts Margie Pitts Hames said through I'm incensed over the treatment we got by the courts Trains planes buses kept busy By The Associated Press Memorial Day weekend travelers many unwilling to put their trust in undependable gasoline supplies have begun their holiday excursions on crowded rail bus and air lines Amtrak spokesman Brian Duff said Thursday's business in Washington was equivalent to that of a normal Friday as the exodus from the nation's capital began and predicted a substantial in- crease today as the weekend got un- derway in earnest All our available equipment is in use and travel is very said Amtrak regional spokesman Jim Bryant Some of our lines are sold out through the Our advice would be don't travel on those days i SUPPLIES of gasoline were expected to be adequate for most of the nation according to the American Automobile Association But many dealers said a run on gas as the weekend opened could make a big difference in the forecasts AAA said a survey of stations showed 59 percent planned to be open Saturday 46 percent Sunday and 61 cent Monday However an Associated Press check of conditions around the country showed many stations running i low on gas as the end of the May tion period nears And some dealers said i they wanted a holiday too drivers won't have to fret about closed gas stations however Safety Metro area travelers shouldn't have any trouble finding gas Page 5 Commissioner Gene Roberts said an ex- tra 177 state troopers will be on duty and will know which gas stations are open In addition troopers will carry extra gas in patrol cars Drivers willing to gamble on open stations were likely to find prices up nearly 20 cents from the same time last year an industry survey reported this week Resort and amusement parks have ex- pressed optimism this week that business will be good particularly for those close to major cities where a rush to prepare for the holiday travel boom began day Amtrak added 12 trains on its Washington to New York run and one on its New York to Albany line Calls to Amtrak's toll-free number were up sharply from during the week of May 6 to 2 million the week of May 14 IN IOWA reports of scattered gasoline supply problems weren't keeping one at home this Memorial Day See FUEL Continued on page 2 col 3 Remembering Courier photo by Gary Fandel In a Day visit to Fairview grandparents graves They are the children of Cemetery Jo Ann and Mike fill jugs with Mr and Mrs Peter Kontos 214 Forest Ave water for the flowers they placed on their Freeway may include a bikeway rwi By DAN DUNDON Courier Staff Writer People using the intercity freeway in the late 1980s may be able to bicycle to work instead of driving A bikeway may be incorporated into the design of the intercity freeway between Waterloo and Cedar Falls However there are many ifs involved such as whether federal funding will be available and whether metropolitan officials can come up with a specific proposal Officials of the Iowa Department of Transportation say it is possible to in- corporate a bikeway into the freeway design But to qualify for federal funding it must be shown that such a bikeway would serve a transportation function rather than a recreational function ANOTHER MAJOR factor to be con- is whether a bikeway would im- prove safety by removing bicycles from heavily traveled roads according to Steve Larson bike coordinator with the DOT Because the intercity freeway would be part of the interstate highway system a bikeway would be eligible for 90 percent federal funding Larson said The major stumbling block is that federal funding for a bikeway must be deducted from the state's overall federal highway allocation This puts a bikeway into direct competition with highway around the Larson said The DOT planner stressed that metropolitan officials must initiate the proposal We have to get a definite plan from the local people before we can he said To date there has been no definite to state officials However Rod Larsen transportation planner with the Iowa Northland Regional Council of Governments is working on a metropolitan plan A committee of metropolitan residents headed by John at the University of Northern Iowa has been actively in- in the idea Larsen said will work with Waterloo and Cedar Falls city officials to come up with a metropolitan bicycle plan of which the intercity freeway bikeway could be a part Even if actual construction of a bikeway cannot be incorporated into the building of the intercity freeway Larsen said he hopes provisions can be made to incorporate such a plan in the future In the design of bridges for example it will be critical that space be provided for the establishment of a bikeway at a future date he said The consulting firm of Brice Petrides and Associates which is expected to do much of the design work for the freeway is working on the concept ALTHOUGH the proposal is supported by Fedon Petrides the consultant is cautious about the availability of funding I share in the enthusiasm for 3 but it may be a bit early to say what is really he said The idea has also received the backing of the Waterloo Chamber of Commerce During a recent meeting the chamber's board of directors voted to support the idea as long as it does not delay the design and construction of the freeway One of the major factors which remains to be settled is the route for such a bikeway ft could follow the route of the freeway to near Hackett Road and then along the right-of-way of the Rock Island Railroad tracks to Cedar Falls But there is a possibility the railroad right-of-way not used for the freeway may be unavailable for a bikeway The Cedar Falls Utilities is reportedly considering buying a portion of the railroad tracks for a storage area for coal hopper cars Other property owners along the have also expressed an interest in the property Design of the freeway is expected to begin this summer on the project's first phase between Hackett Road and Highway 20 When completed freeway will follow a route from near the Crossroads Shopping Center to Freeway 518 in Cedar Falls Actual construction work is not ex- to begin until 1984 with way acquisition in 1982 and 83 About 100 demonstrators spent the morning in the office of Florida Gov Bob Graham No one knew where Graham was and after the word of the execution reached the office the group walked quietly out We took one more step backwards toward barbarism said one de- monstrator John Buckley 33 of Tallahassee SPENKELINK had been condemned for killing a fellow drifter with a criminal record Joseph in a Tallahassee motel room in 1973 A fugitive from a California prison at the time Spenkelink had picked up hiy victim as a hitchhiker and claimed he killed him after forced him at gunpoint to submit to a ual act Prices up in April WASHINGTON AP Led by the biggest increase in gasoline prices in more than five years consumer prices jumped 1.1 percent in April the Labor Department reported Friday It was the third consecutive month in which consumer prices have risen by 1 percent or more The March increase was 1 percent and February's was 1.2 cent If consumer prices continue to rise in the next nine months as fast as they did from February through April they will produce an annual inflation rate of 13.9 percent the department's figures show THAT IS nearly double the Carter administration's official target of a 7.4 percent inflation rate for 1979 and well above the 9 percent rate for all of 1978 In a related report the Labor ment said inflation and taxes had com- to reduce further the buying power of American workers The amount of money workers have to spend fell 2.4 percent in April the Bureau of Labor Statistics said So far this year the decline was 4.5 percent Susan Snow a labor spokeswoman said the April decline was the largest since 2.7 percent drop in January 1978 Adjusted for inflation average weekly earnings fell 2.6 percent in April the largest since the Labor Department began statistics in 1964 Miss Snow said The drop was blamed on a decrease in working hours mostly due to the truckers strike and the high April inflation rate The report on the Consumer Price Index indicated that the greatest price increases in April involved tion up 2 percent for the month and housing up 1.1 percent Both figures reflect large increases in oil products THE 6 PERCENT rise in gasoline prices in April was the largest monthly advance since the 7.3 percent recorded in March at the height of the Arab oil embargo the report said Food prices which began moderating somewhat in March rose 0.9 percent in April Most of the increase was attributed to continued high beef and veal prices The report indicated however that pork prices declined and poultry prices were steady giving consumers more re- priced alternatives to beef Fresh vegetable prices also dropped The Consumer Price Index stood at in April This means that items that cost a consumer in 1967 now would cost Fuel solutions The other day I suggested that conversion to liquid petroleum gas might be a solution to the gasoline problem for pickup trucks but not for passenger cars in which there is no safe place to put the LPG fuel tank For passenger car drivers ingenious Americans may come up with other solutions For a New based research come up with what it says is the fuel of the a product it calls The new fuel they say is a mixture of 75 percent unleaded gasoline and 25 percent alcohol and water The promoters claim the mixture gives a higher octane rating and improved performance lower pollution and cleaner engines and the promise of lower costs for equal mileage Severin THEN THERE are the tws mechanics down in Florida who assert they have modified a diesel engine made by Ltd installed it in a Mercury Capri chassis and produced a car that will get 84 miles per gallon The designers Ralph Moody and Mike Shetley have indicated they hope to get the car into production in their own plant by this summer But there are obstacles First it must get by 4.000 mile certification tests probably to be run on the Daytona Speedway next week after which it mest be shipped to Ann Arbor Mich for the runs on the Environmental Protection Agency's test stand to see if it can meet emission standards The two designers may face still another problem A spokesman for the Perkins Diesel Co says the company will want to test a prototype of the engine before it agrees to sell the diesel to Shetley and Moody The spokesman says the high boost turbocharger the two mechanics would add to the engine puts on an added heat and mechanical load He indicated won't release the engine for production until question of engine life and durability can be determined THE TWO mechanics also say they have made extensive changes to the rear axle and transmission In view of the obstacles cited above don't hold your breath while waiting to buy a as the new vehicle is to be called There are some pretty fair diesel engine engineers in this area thanks to the John Deere Product Engineering Center Some of these experts are a little skeptical of the performance So am I But we can hope can't Inside A fire that heavily damaged a Waterloo tavern Friday iog might have been started by burglars Story on page 18 Weather Partly cloudy Saturday with high in the Complete weather page 2 Capitol quips Surely you remember what philatelists always say about their jtt you can't join em lick em
